Railroad Forums 

Discussion relating to the past and present operations of the NYC Subway, PATH, and Staten Island Railway (SIRT).

Moderator: GirlOnTheTrain

 #1185009  by rail10
 
How is the nyc metro card differs from most other transit fare cards in design and operation?
 #1185091  by Allan
 
rail10 wrote:How is the nyc metro card differs from most other transit fare cards in design and operation?
There are probably many differences as well as many similarities. I don't know if anyone here would know all of them (I certainly don't).

One thing I do know is that the basic MetroCard form (gold/blue front) is the same whether the card is a Pay-per-ride, or unlimited. The only times the color differs is for student (light green), and reduced fare (purple). Chicago has different colors for their various types of cards.
 #1185968  by ExCon90
 
I know that on my MTA Senior Card (which is green) I am charged the discounted senior fare each time I swipe the card (except a subsequent time within 2 hours). On BART in San Francisco, you pay the discounted price up front when you buy or top up the card, but the card shows the full (undiscounted) value on its face; each time you swipe you are charged the standard fare for the distance.
 #1186238  by Patrick Boylan
 
One of SEPTA's proposed new fares, effective I think July 2013, is to change the current unlimited ride passes to number of boardings. I'm not sure why they decided on that, the closest excuse I've read is that SEPTA feels they lose revenue to people who share the unlimited ride passes, but I've never read anything that says how much revenue they think they lose.

So if SEPTA implements it the way I think they're advertising it, you won't get the 2 hour grace period. If your current ride requires you to take 2 vehicles you get charged 2 boardings. A confusing thing is that all the publications outside of rr.net I read say it's per "ride". It was only through the diligence of my fellow posters here that I have read that the charge will be per each time you board.
 #1186331  by MACTRAXX
 
PB: The current SEPTA pass/fare system does NOT have the capability to have implemented changes
like the proposed "caps" on SEPTA pass usage...Any "cap" if implemented will go into effect with SEPTA's
introduction of the NPT system within the next two years - that new system will be sophisticated enough
to limit pass usage by number of trips...The proposed tariff mentions when "caps" could be introduced...

Back in 2010 the MTA proposed to "cap" their 7 day and 30 day Unlimited Metrocards and I recall myself
attending a MTA hearing in Manhattan and rider after rider basically told the MTA: "Raise the price if
need be but do not take away the unlimited use option"...The MTA faced strong opposition to any cap
on Unlimited Metrocards and backed down on that proposal...

MACTRAXX